PEKING: A series of massive earthquakes hit the heavily populated industrial region east south-east of Peking today [July 28], causing deaths and considerable damage. The Foreign Ministry said the first quake was entered near Tang Shan, a city of one million people … and registered 7.3 points on the Richter Scale. This made it China’s worst for 10 years and almost equal in severity to the Guatemala earthquake in February, which left 22,000 dead. Australian former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who is visiting China, said the nine storey Friendship Hotel in Tientsin, 45 miles south of Tang Shan, was cut in two... .

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Pasadena, US,] the Viking spacecraft today [July 28] scooped up a fistful of soil on Mars, starting the first scientific test for life on another planet. “That’s clearly a mark on the surface that’s been made by the (Sampler) arm,” said Viking spokesman Al Hibbs as a picture flashed back 214 million miles … to earth from the landing site. … …Scientists here had to wait five tantalising hours for the message confirming that the job had been done.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026